Improvement in tobacco-drying houses



H. M. DUNBAR.

mprovemen in Tobacco-Drying Houses.

' Patented Aug'. 6,1872..

UNITED S'rA'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY M. DUNBAR, OF MILLERS FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO-DRVING HOUSES.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. DUNBAR, of Millers Falls, in the county or"Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Tobacco Dry- Houses; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is aperspective view, showing my invention in operation. Fig. 2 is a plan,showing the details of the construction and attachment.

In the process of drying or curing tobacco it is necessary to watchcarefully the hygrometric changes in the atmosphere, and to admit orexclude the air, as may be required, to maintain as nearly as possiblethe proper degree of moisture in the drying or dry leaves; for thetobacco is often permitted to hang in the dry-house long after thecuring process is completed instead of storing it in boxes,-&c. For thisreason dry-houses which are constructed especially for the curing oftobacco have in their walls numerous openings, which are covered byshutters, and ma-y be opened or closed, as desired. These shuttersfrequently require to be closed quickly, and when the number is large itis a work requiring considerable labor and time.

This invention is designed to facilitate the opening and closing of saidshutters, whether the number be large or small, and to render theopening or closing of a large number simultaneous; and it thereforeconsists in con` necting the various shutters with a device common toall of them, by which they may besimultaneously moved.

That others may understand the method which I prefer to accomplish mypurpose, I will particularly describe it.

A represents the building in which the t0- bacco is hung up to dry.Openings c are made in the wall and covered with shutters B, all hingedso thatl they will open in the same direction. The shutters B are allcoupled to the rods C by means of joints at the ends of short arms Drigidly secured to the shutters B, respectively. When closed theshutters lie parallel with the rods C, and if the latter were werejointed directly to the former the shutters could not be opened by apower acting in the direction of the length of said rod. The shutters Bon the several sides of the building may be opened and closed by thesame power when the several coupling-rods C are united at their adjacentends either by a bellcrank, as at E, or by a simple link, as at F.

If the number of shutters should be very large, auxiliary power, as of alever, may be employed to move the rod C.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is- In combinationwith the several shutters B and coupling-rods (l, the links E F,oreither of them, to communicate motion from one side of the building toanother, asset forth.

HENRY M. DUNBAR.

Witnesses:

AUSTIN DE WOLF, WENDELL T. DAvIs.

